NHL Unveils Stadium Series Logo

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The NHL held a press conference in New York today make the 2014 Stadium Series official. Four of next winter's six outdoor NHL games will be played under this banner, the centerpiece of which is a pair set for Yankee Stadium. The Rangers will face the Devils and the Islanders at the baseball venue.

As a reminder, here's schedule of games planned for the open air next season:

  • Wed., Jan. 1 — WINTER CLASSIC: Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs, Michigan Stadium
  • Sat., Jan. 25 — Kings vs. Ducks, Dodger Stadium
  • Sun., Jan. 26 — Rangers vs. Devils, Yankee Stadium
  • Wed., Jan. 29 — Rangers vs. Islanders, Yankee Stadium
  • Sat., Mar. 1 — Blackhawks vs. Penguins, Soldier Field
  • Sun., Mar. 2 — HERITAGE CLASSIC: Canucks vs. Senators, B.C. Place

It begins Jan. 1 with the yearly tradition of the Winter Classic — this one in Ann Arbor, Mich. — and culminates with the more infrequent Heritage Classic in Vancouver. In between, we get four more games called the Stadium Series. That's it in a nutshell.

But no big event goes unbranded in the sports world these days. That is to say we'll have no shortage of logos and special uniforms for these six match-ups. While we'll have to wait to see what the sweaters will look like, the logos are already here.

First, there are the Winter Classic and Heritage Classic logos — which have their own distinct styles. Then, the three Stadium Series games, which are all the same and generic but for the city name.

The version shown at the top of this post features all three cities and I assume is used when discussing the Stadium Series in general as opposed to any individual game. There's also a version that includes the sponsor, Coors Light. But the logo patches that will be used on the jerseys will probably not include the sponsor — just like the Winter Classic and Heritage Classic.

The jerseys remain the only question mark. We got the Winter Classic jerseys (officially) back in April. But there are nine other teams I expect to see something new from. Garth Snow has already said a special uniform is in the pipeline for the Isles. Probably the same story for all teams involved.